Football: Make us dream, Paulo

[Iskaral Pust]

Atletico are scum.  The ref was showing lots of cards, including a bizarre red, but he also allowed loads of kicks and wrestling to go unchecked throughout the game.

Good win and finally a clean sheet.  Now we can play the kids in the last two CL group matches, and perhaps allow one of those teams to overtake Atletico for second place.

Firmino injured his hamstring though.  Second time this season for him.  And he joins Milner and Keita with the same injury currently.  That sounds like a lot of fatigued players.

[baxus]

8 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Atletico are scum.  The ref was showing lots of cards, including a bizarre red, but he also allowed loads of kicks and wrestling to go unchecked throughout the game.

Good win and finally a clean sheet.  Now we can play the kids in the last two CL group matches, and perhaps allow one of those teams to overtake Atletico for second place.

Firmino injured his hamstring though.  Second time this season for him.  And he joins Milner and Keita with the same injury currently.  That sounds like a lot of fatigued players.

Why do you think it's a bizarre red? The ball was in front of Mane and this guy was behind Mane, at no point was he anywhere near the ball, he didn't even try to reach the ball, he deliberately tripped an opponent from behind, using his studs to hit him in a way could've caused a rather serious Achilles tendon injury. If you think that's bizarre, I'd hate to see what you'd call a clear-cut red.

[MercenaryChef]

now toon are linked with howe. i liked him with bournemouth. he could be a good stopgap for a year or so. but first he needs to save the richest team in the world from relegation. 

and niklas sule may join from bayern. they have got to make some serious signings in january. and finding a win or three before the transfer window wouldn't hurt.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

If you want to talk about bizarre red cards, talk about Hummels'es red against Ajax. English refs

Anyway, came here for a philosophical question.

Has Spurs hiring Conte increased the likelihood of Solskjaer getting sacked, or is the fact, that Conte is no longer on the market, totally irrelevant to Ole's job security.

As for Süle to NU. Possibly. No idea, whether Bayern think his performances have improved enough for a new contract. That's a question for January. If no, he might be on his way to NU or Chelsea, or whoever makes an offer. My personal opinion is, that the criticisms of Süle are blown out of proportions, and he has certainly not done any worse than any of their fancy French defenders (Pavard, Hernandez, Upamecano). But if they are serious about getting Rüdiger (which I think is unlikely), then he might very well be on his way out regardless.

[Winterfell is Burning]

25 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

 

Anyway, came here for a philosophical question.

Has Spurs hiring Conte increased the likelihood of Solskjaer getting sacked, or is the fact, that Conte is no longer on the market, totally irrelevant to Ole's job security.

 

I don't think even if Solskjaer left, Conte would have been hired, the Glazers want a yes man on the job, not someone who's not afraid of speaking his mind.

[Consigliere]

23 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Has Spurs hiring Conte increased the likelihood of Solskjaer getting sacked, or is the fact, that Conte is no longer on the market, totally irrelevant to Ole's job security.

Totally irrelevant, I'd say. There's been reports that United's board were never considering Conte. Apparently they don't want another confrontational manager like Mourinho. Also reported that the board are extremely reluctant to make a change before the end of the season. I suppose if there is a player revolt and/or it looks like United are falling behind in the race to finish 4th then they'd be forced to.

The City game is most likely going to end in another heavy defeat but I'd be surprised if Solskjaer is sacked even then. As long as the team is in the hunt for a 4th place finish, Solskjaer will be okay imo. It does appear that the Glazers only care about CL qualification and aren't particularly arsed about the team winning silverware or competing for the league and CL.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

39 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Totally irrelevant, I'd say. There's been reports that United's board were never considering Conte. Apparently they don't want another confrontational manager like Mourinho. Also reported that the board are extremely reluctant to make a change before the end of the season. I suppose if there is a player revolt and/or it looks like United are falling behind in the race to finish 4th then they'd be forced to.

The City game is most likely going to end in another heavy defeat but I'd be surprised if Solskjaer is sacked even then. As long as the team is in the hunt for a 4th place finish, Solskjaer will be okay imo. It does appear that the Glazers only care about CL qualification and aren't particularly arsed about the team winning silverware or competing for the league and CL.

Yeah, but now that Conte is off the market, the risk of United's higher up getting bullied by fans and pundits to go for Conte, once Solskjaer is out, isn't there anymore. So they can now safely sack Ole without having to deal with Conte.

So you think the inevitable thrashing by City on Saturday won't be enough? Ah, well, November has some more tough EPL games in story for United. Chelsea are not the team to put five goals in the back of the net, but they will likely take 3 points off United regardless, and then there's Arsenal, who look like they might have found a way to win games these days. So November could be a very lean month indeed for United in the EPL.

You had been riding your luck in the CL, too. That should be enough to make it to the k.o. stages as undeserved as it might feel (you easily could'Ve walked away with one point or less after the two games against Bergamo, and Villareal was also more in the lucky win category).

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Moving on from the comedy drama at Old Dreadford, to a more personal level of football post.

 

Good news bad news sorta thing.

Got a mail this week, that from now on, the season tikets are being valid again (thus far, you had to order match day tickets to get into the stadium, season ticket holders got first picks basically). So back to normal match going, assuming you were either fully vaccinated, or had prove of a recovery from covid (2g-model as it is known here). So I was looking forward of going to another game on Sunday. Now come the bad news.

 

All of that was true until three hours ago. News broke, that our opponent has no less than 18 corona cases (12 players, 6 staffs), putting that match in doubt. They are surprised by the sheer number of positives, which are mostly asymptomatic or mild cases, due to their high vaccination rate.

So there go my plans for Sunday.

[Iskaral Pust]

13 hours ago, baxus said:

Why do you think it's a bizarre red? The ball was in front of Mane and this guy was behind Mane, at no point was he anywhere near the ball, he didn't even try to reach the ball, he deliberately tripped an opponent from behind, using his studs to hit him in a way could've caused a rather serious Achilles tendon injury. If you think that's bizarre, I'd hate to see what you'd call a clear-cut red.

I thought it was a yellow card for a cynical foul without attempting to play the ball, and a yellow card for dangerous play.  But you don’t generally get to combine both infractions on the same offense to call it a red card.  It’s only a red if it’s denying a clear goal-scoring chance or endangering an opponent.  I definitely thought it was a nasty stab at Mane’s heels/calf, but referees rarely give red cards for those.  Just look at how many late stamps on feet and ankles only get a yellow card.

I’m glad Atletico’s shithousing was punished, especially their obvious targeting of Mane (which can also receive red card punishment, I believe, but only if the referee has explicitly warned them of it), but it seemed odd that particular offense drew a red card.

[baxus]

I agree that refs usually don't give red cards for fouls like that, but that's part of the problem with "modern" football. That foul clearly endangered Mane and it was pure dumb luck that he didn't get injured. Refs should nip that in the bud, not wait for someone to get injured before they react.

[Consigliere]

 

[Soylent Brown]

Xavi all ready to become Barcelona's OGS!

[Consigliere]

Looks like Al Sadd jumped the gun and the deal is not done yet. Barca journos reporting that the club are unable to pay Xavi's €5m release clause due to LaLiga FFP. CatRadio reporting that Barca are only allowed to spend €4.1m on a new coach this year (including salary) so they are trying to negotiate the compensation down to €3m or get Al Sadd to release Xavi (and his assistant) for free in exchange for a preseason friendly next year.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

Looks like Al Sadd jumped the gun and the deal is not done yet. Barca journos reporting that the club are unable to pay Xavi's €5m release clause due to LaLiga FFP. CatRadio reporting that Barca are only allowed to spend €4.1m on a new coach this year (including salary) so they are trying to negotiate the compensation down to €3m or get Al Sadd to release Xavi (and his assistant) for free in exchange for a preseason friendly next year.

And they talk about bringing in Olmo in January to cover for Aguero.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And it's official now.

My stadium visit on sunday is off, as the game is, well, off.

[Mexal]

Could be cool? Doubt he'd want to come to Arsenal but supposedly he's good?

 

 

[BigFatCoward]

Just now, Mexal said:

Could be cool? Doubt he'd want to come to Arsenal but supposedly he's good?

 

 

Supposedly he is good is mental for 80 million. He should be a superstar.

Which is why it's going to cost 2 billion for Newcastle to win the title, who cares, its not my money. 

[Mexal]

2 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Supposedly he is good is mental for 80 million. He should be a superstar.

Which is why it's going to cost 2 billion for Newcastle to win the title, who cares, its not my money. 

Honestly, I don't know much about him. That's why I said that. At 21, has like 25 goals in 34 Serie A games. That's pretty good.

Superstars cost a lot more than 80m in this market.

[Soylent Brown]

It's a lot to spend on a player when you guys already have PEA and Martinelli.

[Mexal]

3 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

It's a lot to spend on a player when you guys already have PEA and Martinelli.

Well... PEA is 32 and Martinelli can't play over Lacazette, who's 30. I like Martinelli and think he can add a spark but not sure he's quite there yet. Could use a replacement for PEA/Lacazette in the long term that could play alongside Martinelli. I definitely don't think we're settled up front for the future.